What Is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep Apnea is a sleeping disorder that has become a significant health issue among adults in the United State. There’s an estimated 22 million Americans currently suffering with this sleeping disorder, with an average of 80% being moderate or severe sleep apnea cases. Oddly enough, most people don’t know they suffer from such a disorder as you’re asleep when dealing with it.

Types of Sleep Apnea:

Obstructive SleepApnea (OSA): Typically, OSA is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the tongue collapses against the soft palate, therefore collapsing the soft palate against the back of the throat during sleep and essentially closes the airway.

Central Sleep Apnea(CSA): Patients with Central Sleep Apnea don’t necessarily have their airway blocked but their brain cells fail to signal the muscles to breathe.

Complex Sleep Apnea: This occurs with a combination of the aforementioned conditions. With each of these individual conditions, the brain partially wakes up the sleeper to let them know they need to breathe. This can result in many ‘wake-ups’ a night, which doesn’t allow for deep REM sleep cycles. This may cause most patients to become irritable during the day due to lack of rest.

Are You At Risk ForSleep Apnea?

Believe it or not, there may be signs that can let you know that you’re at risk for sleep apnea. This condition affects anyone at any age –even your little ones! Common risk factors often include:

• Gastroesophageal reflux or commonly known as GERD
• Large tonsils and tongue
• Small jaw bone
• Being male
• Overweight
• Over the age of 40
• Deviated septum’s
• Genetic link to sleep apnea

At Pebble Beach Dental, no matter what level of Sleep Apnea you’re dealing with –we’ve got the solution for you!